Who else loves watching Sugar Rush on Netflix?? I just started the most recent season, Sugar Rush Extra Sweet, and I was fangirling hard over Cori and Nixon from Hawaii. When I saw them make their Hawaiian Ho Ho, I knew I had to give the rainbow roll cake design a try for myself. Doesn’t it look like my rainbow mochi recipe?? I was in love. I didn’t go nearly as fancy, no milk dud glaze here. BUT, after this initial attempt, I am happy to say that this is WAY EASIER than it appears! Like really. I am legit shocked that it came out so well. I will certainly be attempting some chocolate glazes and fruity fillings in the future. If you’ve never made a Swiss roll before, YOU CAN DO THIS. You can omit the steps where you add food coloring and pipe the rainbow to try a plain Swiss roll. Otherwise, just follow the steps below for the rainbow Swiss roll cake of your dreams!
Equipment needed:
- Electric mixer
- 13×9″ baking pan with deep sides, like this quarter sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- Piping bags (I use biodegradable ones) *commissionable link
About the Recipe:
Decorated Swiss rolls are trendy in Japan (Google deco roll to see examples). Those recipes typically separate eggs into whites and yolks. They get beaten separately and then folded together with the other ingredients. Cakes made in this way are super spongy, soft, and moist. I love these cakes, but I’m often too lazy to use this technique.
My recipe takes after the genoise style of cakes, often seen used in the Great British Bakeoff. It replicates the spongy texture by whipping whole eggs and sugar until the batter is frothy and thick. This is why you’ll need some sort of electric mixer for this recipe. The danger with this style of cake is for it to get too dry. I added a tablespoon of vegetable oil to boost the moisture.
Other substitutions you can make with the ingredients: cake flour can be used instead of all purpose and other flavors of extracts can substitute for vanilla.
When piping the rainbow stripes, align your stripes so they go up and down the short side of the pan. I forgot to take photos of the steps for these, BUT I did make a Reel on Instagram! So go watch that video if you’re confused.
How to Get the Perfect Swiss Roll
When the cake comes out of the oven, invert it onto a cutting board lined with parchment paper (if you want you can dust the parchment with a little sugar). You may need to run a knife around the edge of the baking pan to let the cake fall out easily. Peel off the original parchment that was on the back of the cake. Score a line across the short side of the cake about one inch from where you’ll start rolling. Be careful not to cut all the way through! Scoring the cake that goes in the middle of the roll helps to keep the cake from breaking. Roll the rest of the cake up in the parchment and let it cool in the roll shape. When you’re ready to fill, unroll the cake, spread the filling, and reroll! The cake should roll easily without breakage.
Check out the full recipe and steps down below! If you give the deco roll your own twist on design, be sure to send me a photo!
Rainbow Deco Swiss Roll
Ingredients
Cake
- 4 eggs
- 100 g sugar (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g all purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- food coloring
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease and line a 9×13" baking pan with parchment paper. The pan should have sides at least 1/2" deep in order to allow room for the cake to rise.
- In a stand mixer, beat eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale, frothy, and briefly holds its shape when dripped back into the bowl.
- Add extract and vegetable oil and mix.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Sift dry ingredients into wet ingredients and fold until fully combined.
- Divide the batter into separate bowls, one for each color (I did four colors).
- Place a few drops food coloring into each bowl and fold until evenly incorporated.
- Put batter into separate piping bags. Pipe stripes of colored cake batter across the short side of the pan (i.e. hamburger style, not hot dog, if you know what I mean).
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Before cake has fully cooled, invert onto a cutting board lined with parchment paper.
- Trim edges off the cake to create a rectangle and score a line one inch from one of the short sides of the cake, being careful not to cut all the way through.
- Carefully roll the warm cake starting from the scored edge. Leave the cake in the parchment paper in a rolled log to cool completely.
- When the cake has cooled, make the whipped cream (or prepare whatever filling you want) by beating heavy cream, sugar, and extract until stiff peaks form.
- Unroll the cake and spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the surface.
- Reroll the cake, carefully peeling the parchment paper off the back as you go along.
- Slice and serve! If using fresh whipped cream, the cake roll is best finished the day its made, but leftovers can be covered in plastic wrap and kept in the fridge.
